In industries such as oil and gas production, problems can occur when water and other liquids freeze inside pipelines. For example, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a process for extracting oil or natural gas in which large amounts of fracking fluid are pumped into the ground to create cracks in the rock that allow the oil or gas to flow to the well for extraction. Fracking water used in hydraulic fracturing operations is transported through pipelines located on or near the ground surface. Due to extreme climate changes that can occur at oil and gas drilling installations, water transfer can be compromised due to water freezing, which creates down time that becomes extremely costly.
Water can be stored on the surface in tanks or ponds, or pumped from streams. The water can be transferred over a relatively long distance to the well, where it is mixed with chemicals and pumped into the ground. During this operation, a relatively large amount of water flows through the pipes, so freezing of the water is unlikely. However, at other times the flow of water may be slow or non-existent. In cold climates, the water can freeze in the supply lines, preventing water flow or damaging the supply lines.
Attempts have been made to prevent such freezing, such as by bulk heating of the liquid contained in tanks, pits, ponds, reservoirs, etc. before the liquid is transported through a pipeline. In addition, external heating of pipelines has been proposed in an attempt to prevent freezing. However, such methods are inefficient and are often not effective in preventing pipeline freezing.